Shtty Punch
by alchemic-rose
Summary: Promstuck snippit in which Jade, a transfer from a remote island school, goes to her first dance with her three friends, and is doomed to be a wallflower until one of her friends steps up and "escorts" her to the dance floor. Rated T for swearing.


Dave turned to glance at Jade. They both had been standing by the back wall of the room watching everyone dance... Or at least make attempts at movements that hinted at dancing. After his nightmarish escapade on the dance floor, when Terezi dragged him around for a song and a half, he decided to stick to the shadows and the refreshment table. He swirled the orangey punch in the plastic cup he held as he took another glance at his dark-haired friend. For an island girl, she didn't clean up half-bad. She managed to tame her wild tresses into an elegant updo, and she still wore her round glasses, the rims reflected the colourful lights that danced about the room.

'Huh... I guess she didn't want to try the contacts thing like Egbert did.' he thought, shifting his gaze to his other friend who was dancing with his half-sister.

Surprisingly, John ended up to be a pretty good dancer for being so awkward. A bit jealous, Dave turned from the pair to see Jade looking at him. She turned away, embarrassed that he caught her but she quickly recovered to make small talk.

"Hi Dave!" she cheerily greeted him.

"Hey Harley"

"Are you having fun?"

He shrugged.

"More or less… What is there to do at a dance besides munch on cheap snacks, drink shitty punch and tear up the floor with rude gyrations?"

She placed a hand on her chin as if she was actually thinking up an answer to his question, before shrugging her shoulders. "Well, I think that pretty much covers what happens at a dance! At least, what I've heard from you guys."

"No kidding." he mumbled as he took a sip of the punch.

Jade rocked on her feet a bit.

"You've danced yet?" He asked off-handedly.

"No. Not yet..." she replied, bouncing on her toes. "Have you Mr. Coolkid ~?" she asked playfully, peering up at him.

He set the cup down on the table and crossed his arms.

"I'd rather not talk about it." He grimaced.

Jade giggled at his reply and looked back to the dance floor with a longing expression. They stood there watching other students until the end of the upbeat song. Another started up as John and Rose wandered over to the table where the pair lingered.

"Jeez Dave! You gotta get out there and bust some moves!" John rambled to his friend as he approached. "You're missing out on all of the sick beats!"

Dave rolled his eyes. "Bro, you know I'd rather be behind those turntables mixing this shit than dancing to these mediocre beats."

John laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

He turned from his friend to address the girl beside him.

"Are you having fun Jade?"

She nodded and smiled back.

"Yes I am!"

"Good!" he smirked and leaned towards her, whispering.

"Maybe you can drag Dave's ass on the floor for a dance… or what he calls his 'Strider Stride "

John wiggled his arms in a noodle-like fashion at the mention of said "Stride"

Jade flushed then giggled at his mischievous look... "JOHN!"

Jade's exclamation caught Dave's attention and he looked suspiciously at his best friend.

"John, what the fsck are you telling Harley. You have the look of the fsckin devil on your face."

John laughed in response to his friend's inquiry, and took Rose's hand, then scampered back onto the dance floor before his friend could strangle the truth out of him. Dave leaned against the table and glared after John, not feeling up to chasing him down in fear of getting caught by Terezi and forced to dance again.

Two more songs passed and Dave glanced over at Jade to again see her unmoved from her spot. She was now fidgeting with the ends of her dress. He sighed.

"Dammit Harley... If you want to go dance, dance."

She looked over at him blinking in surprise at his sudden vocalization.

"Don't be staying put just because I am."

She brought hands up, waving them a bit.

"No, no, no! It's fine!"

She clasped her hands together and rested them against her skirt.

"I really like just watching everyone have fun!"

He eyed her suspiciously taking her word as b.s. but stayed silent. The song progressed and she continued to fidget, occasionally catching herself doing so and stopping periodically each time. Midway through the third song, her fidgeting grew to its peak and he couldn't ignore it anymore.

"Goddammit Jade!"

He moved from his reclined position, stalked over to his friend and grabbed her hand, startling her from her gaze at the floor.

"I'm not going to have you be a FREAKIN WALLFLOWER at your first dance. That... and your fidgeting is driving me insane." he said as he dragged her towards the dance floor.

"Oh!"

"No Dave- you don't have to this- I'm fine, really-!"

"No- It's fine-... I just-"

She continued her protests until he turned to her and said in a determined voice.

"Bullshit. Let's dance."

She stared at him for a moment, mouth open in mid-sentence before closing her lips into a smile.

"Okay."

She walked with him over to the floor, catching a thumbs-up from John out of the corner her eye. She hoped to god Dave didn't see that. The song changed as they made it to the dance floor. It was some sort of waltz or slow-dance music.

"Oh great..." he muttered under his breath.

Dave turned to Jade with his poker face on as other couples took to the floor. He grasped her hand and had the other supporting her arm, his hand rested against her shoulder-blade. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave a nervous smile before looking down at their feet as they started to dance. They shuffled along awkwardly for a few beats before Jade stepped on his foot.

"Sorry!"

She apologized, taking a moment to glance up at him before starting again at their feet.

"It's cool Harley."

Moments later his foot was squashed again... and then the other as well.

"Ow..."

"Sorry!"

She apologized again before looking again at their feet. He stopped; finding it a bit ridiculous that she would have to stare at the ground for the rest of the dance. Not that the visual input for attempted coordination was helping his feet either. She looked up with an apologetic expression. Ok, she was not having fun. And neither was he having his feet repeatedly stomped on.

"Hey Harley...do you even know how to dance?" he asked in an undertone.

"Not a waltz..." she replied meekly.

"Actually..." she blushed with a tinge of shame.

"... I don't know any dances..."

An awkward silence ensued as they remained still amidst the other dancing couples.

"Uh... Ok." he replied. "The only fancy footwork i know besides my ninja skills my Bro taught me _is_ a waltz, so at least we got that."

He leaned backwards a bit.

"Here, stand on my feet. That way we can dance without you stressing out over not crushing my toes."

"Ummm… alright?" she gave a unsure look before carefully stepping onto his shoes.

"Are you sure it's okay that I am standing on your feet? I'm getting your shoes all-"

"It's cool Harley."

He started up their dance again, wrapping his arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall off.

"I don't really care about these shoes anyway. You sure as hell weren't having fun so why should we both be miserable when we could just dance like this?"

She smiled.

"As long as I'm not too heavy for you! I don't want to crush your feet any more than I already was. "

"My backpack is twice as heavy as you Harley. Seriously, don't flip your biscuits over scuffing my shitty shoes."

He glided them around the floor.

"I can deal."

She laughed, eliciting a smile from him.

"Okay then!."

They danced, moving about the wood floor with ease. She was smiling and having fun which in turn had him having fun as well. Too soon the song ended and they came to a halt. Daintily, she stepped off of his shoes and beamed up at him.

"Enough dancing..?" she inquired, leaving the question open ended.

He smiled back and shrugged.

"Yeah... I guess."

"Okay then!"

She took his hand and walked the two of them back to the refreshment table, trying to ignore the beams coming from John's and Rose's faces that made her blush. She let go of his hand as they approached the increasingly familiar table, and skipped over to the drinks. She grabbed a cup for herself and then offered one to Dave. He smirked and accepted the drink.

"Thanks Harley."

"Noooo, thank _you_!It was fun to dance, even if it was just for a little bit."

"It was no problem. Glad to satisfy your itchin' for a dance."

"And now to finish it off with some shitty punch!" she cheered, holding out her cup to him.

"Mazltov…" he chuckled as he clinked his cup against hers.

He paused before taking a sip, wanting to see her reaction to the cheap drink. He about lost it at the face she made after taking a rather large gulp.

"Ewwwww yuck!" she exclaimed, sticking her tongue out and crinkling her nose.

"Yeah… it's pretty cheap ass stuff they are serving here." He said suppressing laughter as he set his untouched cup down.

"No kidding!" she set the plastic cup down as quickly as possible on the table and glanced around for another beverage to rid the taste of the horrible beverage from her mouth. To her despair, the option of alternate drinks was not to be found on the immediate tables.

"No water?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah… I had the misfortune of figuring that out myself earlier."

She gave him a scowl and smacked his arm.

"Thanks for not telling me _before _I took a huge gulp of that stuff!"

"Hey!" he raised his hands up, shrugging his shoulders. "I warned you about the punch!"

Jade stared at him for a moment, recalling the moment, and turned her scowl into a pout.

"Yeah… you did." She grumbled. "And I totally forgot. Now I will have to have this crappy punch taste in my mouth for the rest of the dance."

"Well, you see you're forgetting yet another thing that is present in the gym that can relieve you from your self- inflicted misery…"

Again her gaze returned to his shaded smirk, holding a quizzical expression as to what he was alluding too. Not wanting to torture her any more he gave her the answer to her silent question written on her face.

"The water fountain by the bathrooms..?"

The ecstatic realization expressed on her face was a brilliant light bulb of relief.

"OH MY GOD!" was her only exclamation before she tore off in the direction of the water fountains, her skirts billowing behind her. He chuckled at her speedy exit, his eyes tailing her until she disappeared out of sightline. He leaned back against the table and returned his gaze to the dance floor. Absent-mindedly he reached for his cup and took a sip. His face wrinkled a bit in disgust as he swallowed, then looked into the cup of neon liquid.

"Man… this is _shitty_ punch."


End file.
